01/18/2010

Modern Bat Mitzvah Invitations

As I discovered last year, while helping my sister research invitations for my nephew's Bar Mitzvah, finding fresh and modern invitation designs for a Bar or Bat Mitzvah can be a huge challenge. Invitation designs are often either a bit too far on the traditional side (ahem, boring) or are so theme-centric that they border on tacky. So I was totally thrilled to see this fantastic custom Bat Mitzvah invitation by SeeSaw:

I love the balance of the modern design elements with the giraffe illustration by Rebeca Raney, which along with the illustrated foliage ties in perfectly to the Bat Mitzvah venue of the American Museum for Natural History without coming across as too childish. So pretty!

{image credits: Seesaw}

01/15/2010

{happy weekend!}

Happy Friday everyone! We're having an unexpected spell of warm(ish) winter weather here in DC, which has me so totally excited for the weekend! We'll be busy packing, packing, packing – but hopefully we'll manage to spend a bit of time outdoors as well. I'm also already looking forward to next week, since that's the week of the Altitude Design Summit. Yay! I really can't wait. But in the meantime…

… a few links for your weekend reading pleasure:

Check out Sarah's tips for affordable letterpress
Announcing Nonpareil Magazine - a new wedding inspiration e-zine! I can't wait to see the first issue…
I can't get over these amazing vintage folk art napkins
Wedding trend predictions for 2010 from Elizabeth Anne Designs and The Sweetest Occasion
Kraft paper and twine – two of my favorite things
These ceramic hearts + keys are so sweet
I'm loving these storage ideas for small bathrooms
Sneaking in one final awesome poster calendar, via notcot
An adorable pink + green baby shower invitation
A must read for freelancers – ideas for staying productive during slow months

That's about it for me this week! Next week I'll be starting my Valentine's Day card round-ups before running off to Salt Lake City. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and I'll see you back here next week!

{image credits: here comes the sun}

01/15/2010

Country Chic Home Inspiration

So as you may have noticed, I’m kind of obsessed with home decor inspiration these days. Last week it was bathrooms, this week it’s primarily kitchens and dining spaces. One of the things that I’m most excited about is the amount of natural light in our new apartment, so this week I’ve found myself drawn to these images of light-filled country home interiors:

I love the idea of the chalkboard paint dresser/buffet â€” and isn’t that huge window in the dining room gorgeous? We’ll also have a tiny little window above our kitchen sink, so I can’t wait until spring arrives and things start to bloom again in DC.

Is there anything particular that has helped inspire you this week?

{image credits, from left to right – top row: bjarni jacobsen via desire to inspire, just be splendid; bottom row: country living via peonies and polaroids, michael partenio via desire to inspire}

01/13/2010

Wedding Invitations â€” Porridge Papers

I first came across the work of Porridge Papers on the Clover & Bee blog – and was instantly smitten with their eco-friendly letterpress wedding invitations, many of which are printed on plantable and recycled papers.Â Â Based out of Lincoln, Nebraska, Porridge Papers creates completely custom invitations, working with eachÂ couple to create a suite that captures the mood and style of their wedding or event.

Samantha and Christopher from Porridge Papers were kind enough to send over a few examples from their custom wedding invitation portfolio, so let’s take a look:

{acorn}

{pfeffer}

{marroquin}

{marilyn}

{shayla}

{elizabeth}

{jessica}

{ruth}

{andrea}

{cindy}

From Samantha and Christopher: Many of our invitation packages are printed on our 100% recycled handmade paper that’s made right here in our shop. Our most popular papers are our plantable papers that have seeds embedded in the fibers. Once the invitation is sent, recipients can plant the invite and grow gorgeous wildflowers or delicious herbs. Customizing is really our specialty, the designs we use are all unique and we can customize everything down to the paper color.

For more from Porridge Papers, you can check out their wedding invitation gallery right here, read more about their plantable seed paper here,Â and follow their blog, pulp obsession.Â Thank you so much, Samantha and Christopher, for sharing your beautiful work with us!

{image credits: porridge papers}

01/12/2010

Julie + Spiro’s Bilingual Greek Wedding Invitations

Today’s real wedding invitations come to us from an incredibly adventurous bride, Julie, who was willing to not only learn how to letterpress print her own wedding invitations, but also to print the invitations in both Greek and English!

Julie fell in love with the tactile feel of letterpress invitations and decided to explore letterpress printing the invitations for her summer wedding in Greece. Â Julie chose a beautiful color palette of yellow and gray for her invitation suite:

From Julie: Â I was a DIY bride in almost every aspect of planning my wedding, which happened on July 25, 2009 in Greece. Â When it came to creating my wedding invitations I desperately wanted letterpress, but it was out of my price range. Â So I decided to take some letterpress classes at a local printers museum.

I designed all of the elements of my wedding suite (with a total of 5 pieces). Â With the help of my instructor, who was kind enough to allow me to use her Vandercook presses at her print shop, my husband and I cranked out all 220 invitation suites in around 7 hours.

{above, the rsvp card in english; below, the greek rsvp card}

It was exhausting, but such a great experience for me that since then I’ve started up my own side business of creating letterpress invitations specializing in bilingual invitations (similar to mine, which is half Greek and half English).

Not only did Julie create beautiful wedding invitations, but I love that she had so much fun in the process! Â You can read more about Julie’s letterpress adventures on her blog right here, and check out more of her bilingual letterpress wedding invitation designs on her website, Cartoules Letterpress. Â Thanks Julie!

{image credits: cartoules letterpress}